SPOILERS: 'Bond 22' Climactic Scenes Revealed?

Times Online today carries a lengthy story – and a huge scoop, if true – about Bond 22‘s climactic scenes.

The site relays a report from Italian newspaper Il Giornale, which claims the next James Bond outing will reach its climax during the centuries-old bareback horse race of Palio in the Tuscan town of Siena. Bond 22‘s climax reportedly sees 007 pursuing the film’s villain down narrow cobbled streets, then across the town’s rooftops and through its medievil aqueducts as the horses charge around the Piazza del Campo.

Palio di Siena

Palio di Siena is held twice yearly, once on 2 July and the second time on 16 August – this coming Thursday. Some filming for Bond 22 will reportedly take place on Thursday, however shots involving actors will be inserted later. A total of 14 cameras – but no helicopters – will be placed strategically around the arena.

The town council reportedly approved the request to film there, so long as the filmmakers agreed to “strict conditions” that they treat the traditional race with “full respect”. However, animal rights activists are protesting the inclusion of the race – in which some 50 horses have been killed, and many others injured, since 1970 – in the film. Accordingly, the filmmakers are banned from showing any violence “involving either people or animals” that may take place during filming.

Eleonora di Giuseppe of the Italian Federation of Equestrian Sport told Times Online that the “horses [in the Palio] are exposed to unacceptable risks” and that featuring them in a James Bond film would only serve to glamorise the event.

The race is a large part of Sienese culture and dates back to the 11th century.

To read the whole article, visit Times Online. For more information about the Palio di Siena, please visit the authorised Il Palio website.

Don’t forget to keep watching CBn for all the latest news on Bond 22.